


Alone and Sublime

by marimoes



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, Gen, Heavy Angst, what if Zoro had been last on sabaody
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 13:38:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18262409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marimoes/pseuds/marimoes
Summary: What if instead of being the first to go in Sabaody, Zoro was the last? What would Kuma have to say to him?





	Alone and Sublime

**Author's Note:**

> I’m going to preface this with an apology, but also a song recommendation for this fic. Alone and Sublime by Mother Mother is excellent to understand the feeling behind this. Also, I’m sorry.

“What’s going on?! I can’t take this anymore!” Usopp screams, exhaustion scratching in voice, “How many of them are there?!” 

Looking up, eyes blurry with exhaustion, Zoro sees another of the giant bear men, but this one is different. His arm clutches a bible over his chest and a pit forms deep in Zoro’s stomach. He knows. 

Wounds still fresh, body weak, Zoro pants for air. His lungs are screaming, begging him for what he cannot give. 

He shouldn’t move.

He needs to move. 

He  _ has _ to move. 

“He’s the real thing!” Zoro yells warning the others, voice cracking in his throat. 

Legs buckling, Zoro pushes himself to his feet. Sharp pain shoots up his back and he folds letting out a grunt. It’s taking every ounce of his power to remain standing. They don’t understand how dangerous this man is and if getting away means taking  _ all _ of their pain, he’ll do it. 

He dealt with this once. He can do it again. 

But looking around the open field, Zoro’s eyes search for one person. For there is only one goal in his mind right now: Luffy has to escape. 

“So, you were alive...Roronoa.” Kuma’s voice is gentle and the familiar tone has Zoro sick. 

The crew isn’t experienced with him. They only know a fraction of his power. 

“Move!”

Zoro hears the command but it isn’t until he hits the ground does he realize that Usopp pushed him aside. 

His eyes feel glossy and he strains to focus them as he wills himself up, arms outreached to the shape of Usopp in front of him. He can almost touch him. 

“If you were to take a trip, where would you want to go?” Kuma asks slowly pulling the black glove off of his hand. 

“W-what?” Usopp stutters pushing backwards on the ground as Kuma leans toward him. 

Zoro’s body jerks forward on its own, feet shakily skidding against the ground.

_ Run! _

The word never makes it out of Zoro’s mouth as Kuma’s arm swings down. A familiar slamming sound echos in his ears as Usopp suddenly disappears from his sight. He blinks once, trying to clear his vision, and again to ensure what he’s seeing is right. 

It is no mistake. Usopp is gone. 

“Huh?” Sanji asks, pushing himself up to look around, “Usopp?! Usopp!” 

Again, Zoro tries to stand but his legs scream at the force. The ground is slick, wet with residue, and his hands can’t gain traction to push himself upward. 

Damn this island, archipelago, whatever the fuck it is, he wants off. He wants Usopp back.

Kuma leans back up, face unmoved as he seems to set sights on the others. The forest shakes as Chopper moves through it, unable to control his form, and the others run toward him in what Zoro is concerned is a fruitless attempt. 

Ears ringing, Zoro again tries to push himself up. The world is muffled, but he doesn’t care, he doesn’t need to hear. He needs to find Luffy.

Before he can so much as move his head, he hears him. The loud unmistakable sound of his captain.  

“Usopp!! Where did you go?!” Luffy screams as Robin throws him out of Chopper’s range. 

The others are collecting, and Zoro can dimly focus as they realize what he now knows is true. Usopp is gone and Kuma is the only one who knows where. 

“The bear man! Why is he here?!” Luffy yells pulling himself on the ground, “Hey!! What did he do to Usopp?!”

“Luffy…” Zoro groans and knows he can’t hear him. He let it happen. He let Usopp disappear. 

How can he face him knowing that he failed to protect their crew? Black spots dance in his vision and he closes his eyes for a moment. Trying to turn his attention to his hearing. 

The others are yelling, screaming at Sentomaru, to tell them where Usopp has gone and Zoro struggles just to breathe. Heartbeat in his ears he only catches pieces of the explanation, but it’s enough to leave his blood to run cold. 

“Only Kuma himself knows where they go. But one thing’s for sure, it's not somewhere you can easily get to from here. They could get hurled to the far side of the oceans.” 

The sound of a beam comes from across the field and Zoro realizes the other Kuma’s haven’t entirely stopped their attack. He opens his eyes slowly, praying for clearer vision.

The black spots are gone, but the world still looks like he’s looking through a thin sheet. It’ll have to do for now.

He looks down to his legs and sees blood bleeding through the fabric of his pants and flowing down his forearm. His once striped shirt is now almost entirely red. He can’t continue on like this. 

Chopper had done a lot to save him at Thriller Bark but he needed much longer to rest. He hates admitting it but being here, now, he knows it’s true. His bones creak, begging to break as he shoves himself with all his might up to a standing position. 

Pain shoots up his chest and he lets out a stiff cry. Did he get hit? 

He looks down, running a hand over himself, and though he only sees blood, he feels it. Fire. Endless fire now pulling through every inch of his being. 

His eyes catch a glimpse of a figure and he turns to see a Kuma clone hovering behind Sanji. 

“Behind you!” He yells out to Sanji who is still kneeled in the field. 

They need to get out of here. They can’t stay and fight. They won’t win.

Sanji turns, eyes wide toward the copy. His legs kick against the ground as he struggles to stand. Again, the slamming noise rings out and Zoro sucks in a breath to yell, but sees Sanji still scrambling to move. He’s not gone. 

The  _ copy _ is gone. 

“He just erased one of his guys!!” Sanji yells confirming Zoro’s thoughts. 

What is he doing? Why would he get rid of his own? 

Zoro stumbles forward, hand outstretched toward Sanji. His hand is numb, nothing but cotton, but still he offers it. 

Sanji grasps at it, and with what little energy he has, Zoro manages to pull Sanji up from the ground. 

“Run, you guys!!” Luffy screams from across the field, pulling Zoro’s attention.

_ Luffy. _

Zoro looks around to account for the crew, trying to figure out if anyone else is gone. The forest groans and his eyes find Chopper. 

Monstrous and loud, Chopper again strikes the ground, trying to hit Sentomaru, but he’s dazed. He yells, unknowing who he is, hurt and confused. The strained wail makes Zoro’s heart strain.

He never should have gone into that form at a time like this. They can’t get him to water to bring him back. They can’t protect him like this. 

“We gotta get out of here!! We’ll come up with a plan once we’re safe!” Luffy commands, voice breaking on the last word. 

They’re already not safe. Usopp is gone. 

The others clamor, creating groups, running to safety in every direction. Zoro and Sanji lean on each other, bodies shaking with exhaustion as they try to do the same. 

Sanji’s grip is hard on Zoro and the pain makes him suck air through his teeth to keep from groaning. No way this shitty cook is going to see him weak. 

“Look out, you two!” Brook yells from behind them and the men turn toward his voice. 

The real Kuma is again pulled forward, arm outstretched ready to attack. Sanji tenses up and coughs, blood painting his hand red. 

“Brook!” Zoro weakly yells, his free arm outstretched, fingers grasping for the skeleton’s jacket. He’s got to grab him. It can’t be like Usopp. 

“I’ll protect you with my life!!” Brook yells, “Oh, but I’m already dea-” 

Kuma’s hand sweeps through where Brook once stood and Zoro feels Sanji grow weak under his arm. 

_ No. _

“Brook!!” Luffy screams and Zoro cringes at the pain in his voice. 

They need to get away. He needs to get Luffy away. 

Before he can take a step forward, Sanji pulls out of Zoro’s hold, pushing him backwards away from Kuma. 

“What are you doing?!” Zoro grunts again falling back onto the ground. His ribs grind as he lands and Zoro knows they’re broken. 

“Two of our crew got erased right in front of me!” Sanji yells, steading himself in front of Zoro, “Run, Zoro! You’re too hurt to fight right now.” 

Zoro coughs, argument dying in his chest as he struggles to breathe. How is he supposed to run right now if he can’t even do that? 

“Run, Sanji!! Please!!!” Luffy bellows, the words no longer a command, but a desperate plea. 

Sanji grinds a foot into the ground, gearing back to attack Kuma, and Zoro wants nothing more than to pull that asshole back to the ground. Does he seriously think he’s going to win? He knows more than the others just what Kuma is capable of. 

Sanji runs forward and Zoro feels his stomach bottom out as Kuma’s hand again swings forward. He’s too far away. He can’t grab him. 

_ Franky. Someone. Anyone.  _

“Bastar-”Zoro yells but the word dies in his mouth as Sanji disappears. 

The air blows strongly past him and his mind begs him to pass out. Black dances around the edge of his vision, head pounding with the rhythm of his tired heart, but he can’t do it. 

Three. Three of them are gone. He was there, all three of them he was there, and he couldn’t save them. 

Hands pull on Zoro’s body, and he feels himself pulled backwards along the ground, before being placed behind one of the trees. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Robin, hands in position, concentrating on where to put him. Her hands gently place him propped up against the tree out of the view of Kuma. 

“Dammit.” He spits head falling backwards. 

This is weak. He shouldn’t need to be moved or saved, but he knows Robin just kept him from vanishing like the others.

“Where is he?!” Luffy yells out and Zoro leans himself to look around the tree. 

His eyes sweep the field and his breathe catches at the sight. 

Kuma is gone. 

Disappeared out of thin air, just like the members of the crew. He can’t be gone. Why only take out three of them before leaving? What purpose would that serve? 

He leans back against the tree once more. Hoping that if he’s gone long enough, maybe Zoro can muster up enough strength to get the rest of them away. Maybe. 

“He’s over here now!!” Zoro hears Franky yell from the opposite direction. 

So, he isn’t gone. Of course he isn’t. 

“Franky!!” Luffy screams out and Zoro pleads his body to move. He can’t see them anymore and his hearing is gone beyond comprehension. 

A large crash fills the field and Zoro prays it’s Kuma that got hit. That somehow, Franky has figured out a way to hit him. This prayer is fruitless as the now familiar noise makes his hair stand on end. 

That soul crushing sound of air rushing past so fast it sounds like the world is shattering. 

_ Scream. Luffy. Luffy, please scream.  _

He feels sick at the thought. Stomach like a stone that he’s hoping it was someone else but Luffy. 

But he can’t lose him.

“Fraaaaanky!!” Luffy screams and for a moment Zoro feels a weight lift off his shoulder. 

A single, short moment before realization strikes him. Just a moment before the hears that dreaded sound again.  _ Again. _

“Nami!!” 

Zoro’s heart aches, thumping hard against his chest as adrenaline floods over him. He has to save the others. Three is better than none and he has to do it. 

He pushes back against the tree, shifting himself into a standing position. His legs wobble and he’s uncertain if he’s able to stay up much less walk. But he has to. 

_ I have to. _

_ I have to. _

_ I have to.  _

Keeping one arm on the tree he slides around it only to see Chopper come into view. What was once a small amount of control is now clearly gone from the reindeer’s conscious. He swings, wild, and unaimed down toward Kuma who is dwarfed next to him. 

Zoro fights the urge to close his eyes as he sees Kuma’s arm pull back to continue to tear their family apart. 

“Robin, run!!” 

Zoro forces himself forward around the tree as he watches Robin run toward Luffy. Her eyes are focused on their captain as he runs toward her from the other side of the field.

She reaches out for him, and Zoro watches as Luffy’s hand does what his has several times already, falling through empty air. Luffy does what he has also done several times. He stands shaken, unable to process where the person that was just there has gone. 

“I wasn’t fast enough.” Luffy chokes out, tears filling his voice, “Why wasn’t I  _ fast enough _ ?”

That’s just it. None of them can be fast enough. But they don’t have to be fast, they just have to survive. 

He can save Luffy. He did it before. He can do it again. 

_ I can.  _

_ I can. _

_ I can. _

“Zoro!!” Luffy cries out, voice wobbling with fear and exhaustion, and Zoro can see him, head swiveling around trying to find him. 

Zoro breathes in to speak, but blood comes up in the place of words, dark and metallic in his mouth.  

His legs pull him forward two steps before he stumbles, falling to the ground. Throwing his arms out to catch his fall, they bend, creaking, begging to break as they support his weight. He won’t let them. 

“Luffy!” Zoro croaks out, using every last ounce of energy he has to draw Luffy’s attention toward him. 

Luffy turns, and locks onto him, feet already digging into the soft ground toward him. 

“Zoro!! You have to  _ run _ , Zoro,  _ please _ !” Luffy cries, face soaked with tears, running toward him. Luffy stumbles, his own legs weak with exhaustion, and Zoro feels his heart start to beat faster. 

He’s right there. He can reach him. Of no one else in this world he knows he can reach Luffy. 

“Luffy.” Zoro gasps, hand outstretched, fingers dead to the bone. Luffy barrels forward, no more than a foot away from him, as a shadow casts over them. 

“Zo-”

His fingers grace Luffy’s, and as he moves his hand to grasp them, all he feels is air. Zoro blinks, and tears flood his vision. They’re hot, burning on his skin as the air continues to rush past.  

_ No. No, no, no.  _

“NO.” Zoro screams, fist falling to the ground. His body collapses, arms no longer able to hold his weight, “Goddammit!!” 

Kuma steps forward, almost silently, through the cloud created by his power. Zoro continues to wail, face into the ground, body unable to move.

His body is cold, soaked in blood, and his heart thuds dull against his chest. Nausea wells up in his throat as his mind pulls the last sight of Luffy. His eyes wide, smile slight on his face as their fingers touched. 

He is going to die here. 

He deserves to die here. 

“L-Luffy….I can’t. I couldn’t. I-” Zoro pants, chest heaving, his words muffled by the ground. 

“You couldn’t.” Kuma confirms. 

Zoro feels a hand on his back, and though everything inside of him wants to fight, he can’t. All he can do is keep from blacking out as Kuma rolls him over. 

The sun shines through the trees, gleaming off of the bubbles overhead. A place like this is where he meets his end? He never would have imagined. 

“L-Luffy…” Zoro chokes out a sob, mind pulled back to the last time he cried. To the day Mihawk let him live. 

_ I swear that I’m never going to lose again until the day I fight him and win. I swear to never lose again! Any problems, Pirate King?? _

The words ring in his ears. Blood boiling words.  _ I swear to never lose again! _

“I swore I wouldn’t lose, that I would rather die.” Zoro mumbles, chest tight with pain as tears continue pouring down his face. 

“Yes, you failed your task.” Kuma says softly, almost as if he’s trying to comfort him, but his stomach rolls in response. 

Shade falls over Zoro as Kuma moves to loom directly over him. Motionless, he hovers, bible still clutched against his chest. 

Zoro tries to let his eyes attempt to focus on the man’s face. His eyes are dark, unhuman. His face is expressionless. 

Is he a robot like the others? Zoro is unsure. He only knows that Kuma is one thing for certain. 

_ A monster.  _

“You risked your life before, to save your captain, and yet-” 

“Where did you send him? That man from before said you send people places. Did you kill him? Where-” Zoro interrupts with a shout. Lungs burning, he’s unable to finish. 

“I sent him where he needed to go. And for you I will do the same.” Kuma answers calmly. He speaks as if it is only natural for this to happen. As if it were planned all along. 

“I need to go to Luffy!” Zoro spits, “Nothing has changed since we last spoke. If you aren’t willing to do that, then kill me here.” 

“I cannot do that.” Kuma sighs, reaching down to a squirming Zoro, “Fear not, Roronoa, we’ll never see each other again.” 

Zoro screams, body shuddering as he wills it to move, “LUFFY!!” 

“Farewell.” 

 

Grove 12, Sabaody Archipelago, The Grand Line.

That day, the Straw Hat Pirates, led by Captain Monkey D. Luffy were eradicated. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
